Cape Coast

On Friday, we all took a 3-hour bus ride south to Elmina, a town in central southern Africa. The purpose of the trip was to take a tour through the Elmina Slave Castle and learn a little bit about the history of the illegal transatlantic slave trade. The trade started in 1441 by the Portuguese and was perpetrated by both the Portuguese and the Dutch who established small towns on the West African coastline. Africans were captured, at times, 300 miles from the coast (where the castle is located) and were forced to walk chained to one another, carrying the European’s belongings, to the castle. There were three ways to acquire captives: “Europeans captured Africans, Europeans collaborated with Africans to get other Africans, and Africans known as slave raiders captured Africans and sold them to African merchants, who in turn sold them to the Europeans” (Ashun, pp. 39). The most reliable way to come by captives was to take prisoners of war once tribes had been defeated as an annual tribute.

Women's Quarters.

Once slaves reached Elmina, they were imprisoned within its walls and treated barbarically. Approximately 1000 prisoners had spent their lives within the dungeon; 600 men and 400 women. Women were kept in a long dungeon where they were fed once, perhaps twice a day if lucky. This dungeon kept the women packed in together so closely they could barely walk around. There were no toilets and women were forced to urinate, defecate and have their menses on the floor in there. The unimaginable stench must have boiled in the immense heat and humidity. With no place to rest, they slept and gave birth in their own excretions. Many of them died there. When we were walking through this chamber, we were all overcome by the smell. Lingering stench of agony seemed to permeate the stones, and it was hard for me to fathom the depths of despair that had occurred.

Staircase to the Governor.

At his whim, the Governor called the women out into the courtyard to look over them. He would pick one, and she would be publicly bathed using water drawn from the wall there. She would get to eat a meal and be dressed up. There was special access to the Governor’s bedroom via a special staircase and trap door located in the women’s quarters. After the rape, she was imprisoned again. Any children that were born of these liaisons died shortly after birth or were instituted on small cities in West Africa (the Europeans occasionally took care of their own).

“When the ships came, the women sold were exited to a room. The men were made to join them after passing through a transit dungeon. The men and women finally entered a room now known as the “room of no return.” It was in these last rooms that the men and women saw each other for the first time since they had been brought to the dungeons. It has been said that sometimes kin saw each other there” (Asun, pp. 46).

View from the exit of the room of no return.

View from the exit of the room of no return.

Middle passage – to the Caribbean’s, Americas, etc. was even more tortuous, with slaves being forced to lie in holding passages 20-25 inches high, and worked in between. Some women had to give birth while working, chained to corpses. And others were sexually abused to the death.

Locked into the death cell.

Back at Elmina, there were two special cells adjacent to one another by the castle entrance. One was for rough and rowdy Europeans who had drunk too much, and it was adequately ventilated. The other was marked by skull and crossbones. It was for slaves who attempted to rebel and escape. They were left into the tiny dark cellar until they died. Sometimes they were forced to keep company with the rotten corpses of their brethren.

Elmina is open to the public for a fee and the museum sells a history book there as well as some paintings. People leave small offerings there as a way to pay tribute to their dead ancestors.

Our second destination of the day was at the Kakum National Park where we climbed what felt like 15 stories of stone steps to the top of the forest (is ‘jungle’ appropriate to use here?). Students were encouraged to wear long sleeves and pants because of the many mosquitoes and insects in the forest. It was past 90 degrees, humid, and we were climbing step after step until finally we arrived at the canopy. Students walked out on the ropes and boards that were up to 40 meters above ground level to get a unique view of the tops of the trees. There were a total of 7 bridges that we crossed.

Abigail on the canopy walk.

Alex on the canopy walk.

The walkway are ladders with boards on top of them.

40 meters up.

A coconut I bought at the peak for 1 cedi (50 cents). Chopped open with a machete. Delicious.

I was totally drenched in sweat at the peak. Never has an anthropologie shirt been so abused. The total canopy walk took about an hour. We learned that the forest is home to over 600 species of butterflies. It’s also home to bears, monkeys, and scorpions. I was a little nervous walking on the canopy trail but I was more excited than scared when I got a photograph of a scorpion. 

The darker ones are supposed to be less poisonous. Who knew?

Kakum National Park sells mancala sets in their giftshop.

Animal skins for sale by the roadside in Elmina.

Town life in Elmina.

The symbols on this mask's cheeks mean "accept God."

Finally, we made our last stop of the day, Coconut Grove Beach Resort. This was a lovely hotel with plentiful accomodations. The beach had coconut trees lining it and not a speck of garbage was in the sand. The ocean had rolling waves crashing on the beach. The beach had little sand crabs skittering back and forth. There were two pools with a bar located nearby (drink prices were about $6-8 for cocktails). There was an 18-hole golf course. The rooms had working televisions. We could watch African soap operas! The water pressure in the shower was excellent, and the showers were roomy. They even had water heaters that didn’t take 20 minutes to work, so that our showers weren’t icy – which was appreciated, when the air conditioners worked so well.

I've ridden horses since I was six and in college I was a captain of LIU's equestrian team.

There was also horseback riding. While my classmates stripped to their bikinis and cooled off in the pool, I stayed in my totally sweat-soaked clothes and boots in order to ride. We were back at the hotel by 4:20 p.m., so I had time before dinner to go. I paid 20 cedis (about $10) at the reception desk. I was not required to sign any liability forms, the way you would in the United States. To trail ride in Long Island the price ranges from $40 to $150 -- not including your tip. This is for those who aren't familiar. In other words, I got an amazing price. After paying, I met with the man in charge of the stables on the resort. He brought up a saddled bay horse for me to ride and we set out to the beach (him on foot). I was excited because the saddle was an English style saddle which is the style in which I am accustomed to riding. I talked to him a bit about horses, and riding, and polo. Polo is played in Africa and there is actually an Accra Polo Court located not too far away from Afia Beach Hotel. The man said that he would watch me ride and after a little while he let me ride out on the beach by myself.

Spirit, the stallion. Oil painting hanging in reception.

The horse I was riding had a rough mouth, maybe from too many inexperienced people, but was patient, even when three skinny dogs ran up to him and snapped at his legs. We walked and trotted through the surf as the sun was setting. It was beautiful, and I can truly say I have never experienced anything like it in my entire life. I was able to ride as long as I wanted. I could ride out into the Gulf of Guinea ocean. My horse’s training was rudimentary, but he eventually grasped that I wanted a canter when I nudged him behind the girth with one heel. He liked to splash in the water while we were riding through it. I worried that I’d work him too hard in the tropical climate; he had worked up a bit of a lather. I walked him out for a bit and back to the stable man who had been watching us. He asked me – “can we go back?” and I realized I had forgotten to ask about how long I could ride. Oops. A classmate Liz was out on the beach in her swimsuit and luckily snapped a shot of me riding in.

Photo credit: Liz Dehner.

When I rode the bay back to the stable area I noticed a donkey wandering around with a long rope attached to his halter. An amusing series of events unfolded in which the stable man chased the donkey around until he caught him and was able to tie him to a fence there. By the stable area there are some rabbits in a pen. There are peacocks caged. The stables have a couple of other horses there, too. I helped to untack the bay and noticed at that point in time he was intact (a stallion). I was even more impressed by his manners seeing as how he had mares next to him and even two foals there.

I took a much-needed shower, as by this point I had been trekking through the Slave Castle (only for an hour, and I was extremely uncomfortable. I would have not made it there.) hiking through the African jungle and horseback riding for an entire hour. I don’t think I have been so dirty in my entire life. Us students all had dinner at the hotel, and they had good chicken, coconut rice (one of my favorite ways to eat rice), and even French fries. I shied away from the fish soup, though, on account of it being spicy.

After dinner, we mingled around a bonfire on the beach. We sipped freshly brewed coconut wine from halves of coconuts. It was a very unique, slightly tangy taste, which I find hard to describe. Abigail showed us some traditional African dancing and taught us some moves. She also taught us some lyrics to traditional African songs. Abigail has a beautiful voice and is very graceful. Anita told us on the bus earlier that if we had any questions regarding etiquette we should look to her in terms of what we do. As per her request I have taken the video down from Instagram that I shot (but still have access to it for interested friends and family).

The next morning after breakfast, I set off to the stables again with sugar cubes in tow from the buffet. I was happy to see that the stable man had a dandy brush in hand and was brushing one of the horses. The others were tied outside. I was curious about the condition of one particular mare, whose ears seemed to flop/fall at a strange configuration around her poll. I wondered if she had some sort of neurological problem or if maybe someone had hit her over the head. She had a shy baby who came up to me only after I had given mom a sugar cube, and I exchanged breaths with him. I noticed they both had parasitic worms… not from a swollen belly, I actually saw them. It turned my stomach. I left after giving the rest of the horses sugar cubes.

Today we stopped at Bojo Beach on the way back to Afia. It was a long bus drive to get there. At the beach I got into the ocean for a little while and played in the waves. The beach huts had palm fronds on top of them, such that you’d imagine on a post card. It was extremely hot so I stayed in the water most of the time. I didn’t have a towel, so I used my skirt as one. I ordered a Ghanaian pizza while I was there. I also had some hard cider and a sunrise drink (gin, grenadine, pineapple juice, and orange juice). I was ready to go when we left; laying out on the beach for a long period of time made me nervous even with SPF 110. 

When we got back to Afia many of us were exhausted. I stayed in and worked on editing photographs while my classmates went out. I tried to Skype my dad but Skype is not working. I haven't talked to my parents since a week ago exactly (last Sunday night). 

Sources

Ashun, A. (2004). Elmina, the Castle and the Slave Trade. Accra, Ghana: Ato Ashun.